Hookah Trays

[Animus]

Hey all,

I have a 3ish foot tall Sahara Smoke hookah with a double vortex bowl. It hits beautifully, but I have issues with the tray not catching all the ash. See, because I got a double-vortex, the edges of the bowls have a few millimeters between it and the edge of the tray. Sahara Smoke doesn't sell trays larger than 6.5 inches in diameter, but I need a tray roughly 8-10 inches large with an inner diameter around 0.68 inches (Saraha's standard inner diameter.)

I could DAFS, but I tried, failed, and got bored after 20 minutes. Thus, I'm posting to you guys. Is there any places online that make enormously large hookah trays? Could I get a few links?

Thanks in advanced,
Much Love,
Animus

[skeetsak]

i think you are SOL. as far as store bought

you might want to make one. get a silver plated tray from a thrift store and drill a hole in the middle of it.

i cant go with out encouraging you to get rid of the bowl.. sorry Edited August 21, 2012 by skeetsak

[agunn1231]

you could try hooka company or hookah-shisha. Not sure what they will have though, but worth a shot

[Chreees]

[img]http://www.webstaurantstore.com/images/999g78_lg.jpg[/img]

[agunn1231]

[quote name='Chreees' timestamp='1345594163' post='554719']
[img]http://www.webstaurantstore.com/images/999g78_lg.jpg[/img]
[/quote]
TO THE GROCERY STORE!
never thought of that....hope it works for the OP

[â€On]

[quote name='Chreees' timestamp='1345594163' post='554719']
[img]http://www.webstaurantstore.com/images/999g78_lg.jpg[/img]
[/quote]

Mmm pie

[Epoch]

[quote name='skeetsak' timestamp='1345592846' post='554714']


[u][b]you might want to make one. get a silver plated tray from a thrift store and drill a hole in the middle of it[/b][/u].
[/quote]

This seems to be the popular method these days. And they look fantastic.

[mushrat]

have you checked out the fitted and non-fitted trays from www.southsmoke.com? I don't know the size but i know they have a nice selection of basic trays of both types.

[Animus]

Southsmoke doesn't have trays large enough. Interesting.

I'll probably make my own tray from a dish like you guys said, though I wish there were larger hookah trays in production.

As far as the aluminum pie tray goes, it is a clever idea. My only thing against it is that it looks tacky. I like to incorporate aesthetics into my smoking, as a pretty hookah always gets people excited. They don't understand how well it pulls, they just see smoke and go "ahhh!" I suppose I could paint it, but then we run into more health issues I'd rather not deal with. I'm going to keep looking and I'll update you with my results, but for right now, I'll stick with my small tray that keeps my hookah looking nice.

Hookah company's [url="http://www.hookahcompany.com/xl_egyptian_hookah_tray_4428_prd1.htm"]http://www.hookahcompany.com/xl_egyptian_hookah_tray_4428_prd1.htm[/url] looks pretty good, but the inner diameter is more than twice what I have now... And of course it's sold out. Otherwise, I haven't found anything I'd like to waste money on. (and sorry if you're not supposed to link to external sites, I never actually read the forum rules...)

Skeetsak,

As far as bowls go, this double vortex is one of the best I've owned. It requires little maintenance for cleaning, and the smoke draws through quite well. Is there something you have against double bowls, or just vortexes in general? I'm sure I could find a slew of discussions over which bowl is better, but vortexes do me fine. What's an explanation for your opinion?

[mushrat]

Give me a Phunnel.

[Chreees]

Once you've tried it, you'll see why the phunnel bowl (legit Tangiers one) is much better than the Vortex.

Side note: Eric (creator of Tangiers tobacco and the Tangiers phunnel bowl) actually invented the Vortex design first, but ditched it because he found it to be inferior to the phunnel design.

[Vette]

[quote name='Chreees' timestamp='1345666990' post='554810']

Side note: Eric (creator of Tangiers tobacco and the Tangiers phunnel bowl) actually invented the Vortex design first, but ditched it because he found it to be inferior to the phunnel design.
[/quote]

thats pretty interesting! ive always thought everyone used vortex for juicier tabaccos and phunnel & regular style for regular drier tobacco

[Animus]

I know this is going off topic to the title but can anyone send me links as to how to poke holes for the phunnel bowls and where you're supposed to place coals? My friend always comes up with the jankiest ways of putting coals on, and when we had a phunnel together, he ended up using 3 halves of the square coconut coals placed triangularly on top of a very [s]weird[/s] interesting hole arrangement. It pulled well like 40% of the time. Because of this, I've had an ill disposition on phunnels. Perhaps if I was shown how, I may take a liking to them.

Also, I will set out this weekend in search of an appropriate dish and show you guys what I've done so I don't start this forum by posting tangential content. Happy smoking!

[â€On]

[quote name='Animus' timestamp='1345699689' post='554865']
I know this is going off topic to the title but can anyone send me links as to how to poke holes for the phunnel bowls and where you're supposed to place coals? My friend always comes up with the jankiest ways of putting coals on, and when we had a phunnel together, he ended up using 3 halves of the square coconut coals placed triangularly on top of a very [s]weird[/s] interesting hole arrangement. It pulled well like 40% of the time. Because of this, I've had an ill disposition on phunnels. Perhaps if I was shown how, I may take a liking to them.

Also, I will set out this weekend in search of an appropriate dish and show you guys what I've done so I don't start this forum by posting tangential content. Happy smoking!
[/quote]

[url="http://www.hookahforum.com/topic/46527-plucking-holes/"]This recent thread may be of some assistance.[/url]

However, what it will basically amount to is poking a bunch of holes all over the top. There is no exact science to it and it is not that different from poking holes on any other bowl. The coal placement your friend used is a good coal placement, one that many of us use. I think the issue you may have been having is that the foil was sagging into the spire of the phunnel and thus blocking off air flow. Make sure you are using a heavy duty foil (reynolds HD), and when you wrap the bowl with foil, ensure it is tight like a drum. No wrinkles or sagging in the foil. That should help you out. If the bowl is new and not too hot, you can still grab the outside and sort of tighten the foil up as well.

[Chreees]

[quote name='Vette' timestamp='1345697965' post='554864']
[quote name='Chreees' timestamp='1345666990' post='554810']
Side note: Eric (creator of Tangiers tobacco and the Tangiers phunnel bowl) actually invented the Vortex design first, but ditched it because he found it to be inferior to the phunnel design.
[/quote]

thats pretty interesting! ive always thought everyone used vortex for juicier tabaccos and phunnel & regular style for regular drier tobacco
[/quote]

Nope, actually [most] everyone uses the Phunnel for juicier stuff, and a standard Egyptian clay bowl for drier tobacco.

[Rani]

Do what Kasbah Hookah did. Wander around Target, Michaels, or the 99 cent store, find a decent looking serving tray, and drill or have drilled a hole in the center.

'Rani

[KasbahBazaar]

[quote name='Rani' timestamp='1345822844' post='554966']
Do what Kasbah Hookah did. Wander around Target, Michaels, or the 99 cent store, find a decent looking serving tray, and drill or have drilled a hole in the center.

'Rani
[/quote]

Well, I don't buy cheap low quality serving trays you would find there lol. But yes can do that and I've heard of people going to thrift stores as well. I prefer hunting eBay for something of actual quality and paying a little extra so if you're patient that's what I would recommend.

[Rani]

[quote name='KasbahBazaar' timestamp='1345823193' post='554967']
[quote name='Rani' timestamp='1345822844' post='554966']
Do what Kasbah Hookah did. Wander around Target, Michaels, or the 99 cent store, find a decent looking serving tray, and drill or have drilled a hole in the center.

'Rani
[/quote]

Well, I don't buy cheap low quality serving trays you would find there lol. But yes can do that and I've heard of people going to thrift stores as well. I prefer hunting eBay for something of actual quality and paying a little extra so if you're patient that's what I would recommend.
[/quote]

I wasn't making a quality point. My point was only that he might want to find a serving tray (could be solid silver), and drill it himself.

'Rani

[KasbahBazaar]

[quote name='Rani' timestamp='1345830511' post='554972']
[quote name='KasbahBazaar' timestamp='1345823193' post='554967']
[quote name='Rani' timestamp='1345822844' post='554966']
Do what Kasbah Hookah did. Wander around Target, Michaels, or the 99 cent store, find a decent looking serving tray, and drill or have drilled a hole in the center.

'Rani
[/quote]

Well, I don't buy cheap low quality serving trays you would find there lol. But yes can do that and I've heard of people going to thrift stores as well. I prefer hunting eBay for something of actual quality and paying a little extra so if you're patient that's what I would recommend.
[/quote]

I wasn't making a quality point. My point was only that he might want to find a serving tray (could be solid silver), and drill it himself.

'Rani
[/quote]

Oh, I know you weren't in that sense, I'm just recommending to anyone to stay away from cheap trays. I have a couple cheap trays and they really do not look or feel nearly as nice as the ones I forked out a little more for. Also I'm not sure about the cheap ones' ability to hold coals without damaging the finish or the tray itself.